Company behind Professional Poker Tour television programming had a bad 2007.
Wednesday 12th March 2008
Not content with the success of the EPT and the APPT, PokerStars have announced the launch of Latin America’s first major poker tour, the LAPT. With stops in Brazil, Costa Rica and Uruguay, the tour is set to bring poker action to some of the most beautiful destinations in the world.
The Latin American Poker Tour kicks off in the beautiful Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3rd – 5th May 2008. This three-day $2,500 tournament will be the largest poker tournament ever held in Brazil, with players competing for a total prize pool of over $600,000. Among the players will be Team PokerStars Pros and international poker stars Andre Akkari from Brazil and Humberto Brenes from Costa Rica.
The tour continues with the LAPT San José in Costa Rica from May 22-24, and then moves on to Uruguay for the LAPT Punta del Este from August 7-9.
As well as players from Latin America, the LAPT is also set to attract top players from North America and Europe. Each LAPT event planned so far anticipates 250 players or more, creating total prize pools of well over $600,000.
PokerStars already sponsors the European Poker Tour (EPT), the leading poker tour in Europe, now in its fourth season, and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), which launched last year.
Talking about the launch of the LAPT, Brazilian Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari said: “It’s a real honour to be representing Team PokerStars in the PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour – and even more exciting that the very first event is in my home country. The LAPT offers great opportunities for Latin American players. Poker is growing so fast in this region and now local players will have the chance to compete in major events in their own backyard.”
